18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Aubrey

They were passing through the main entrance when Aubrey’s information square started pinging. She opened the secure messaging program used only by the humans within the compound to find out a lot had happened while she and Tarrian were gone.

“There was a surprise inspection last night,” she said.

“I know,” Tarrian said as the ground transport halted inside the main entrance. It wouldn’t go any further due to the lack of track markers for it to follow. That had been a deliberate decision to keep visitors from being able to travel quickly within the compound. Everyone here walked or was carried, no vehicles allowed.

“You know?”

“Don’t you remember when my Ident sounded last night as we were getting back from the evening meditation?” he asked as he exited the vehicle on his side.

Aubrey shook her head as she jumped out the other side and circled around to him. “I was pretty much asleep at that point. Those meditations are better than any medical-grade sleeping aid!”

“Even though I wasn’t on the compound, the emergency warning still lit up my Ident. There was nothing we could do, so I didn’t mention it. If anything went wrong, there would’ve been more communications.”

“No news is good news,” Aubrey quipped.

“Exactly,” he agreed, hefting three large bags out of the transport with a grunt. Two of the bags were filled with rocks, even though she was only supposed to fill one small bag. When the other Talins on the mountain realized she was there for the rocks, they’d gathered anything that looked remotely interesting and left it next to their bunk in the dormitory. By the time she and Tarrian got back from their stint in the cave, the bunk looked like someone had built a small stone wall around it!

There were also two large bags to carry them in, and Tarrian received a message on his Ident giving them a departure time where there would be enough space to carry the bags on the lift-carriage.

All of it had been done in absolute silence and without any direct contact. Aubrey had wanted to run around hugging everyone but didn’t want to spoil the deeply spiritual experience they were trying to have.

That meant she’d made Tarrian pack every rock, even though many of them were common and unremarkable. They were all gifts, and she couldn’t leave a single one behind.

“You’re so good to me,” she commented as he shouldered the bags. He wasn’t straining under the weight here at ground level, but walking back down the steps and then the paths between lift-carriages was a struggle. Despite that, he never once complained or suggested leaving something behind.

His only concern was that he’d wanted to carry her also, but she’d refused. Not only was going down easier than going up, but she wasn’t about to burden him further with her own weight!

“Should we get an auto-cart to carry this stuff back to our cottage?” Aubrey asked.

Tarrian sounded a loud rumble of amusement. “Outside of the ground transport, this is the easiest part of our journey!”

“Still,” she said with a frown, then she saw Zuri and Kasium leaving the infirmary.

She and Tarrian had started their journey off the mountain before the sun even rose, reaching the compound while it was still morning. If Aubrey had to guess, she’d bet Zuri and Kasium spent the night together in the infirmary. By the looks of them, they might’ve done more than sleep!

“I think someone finally got lucky!” Aubrey murmured, happy for Zuri.

“It seems so,” Tarrian agreed with another amused rumble.

“Looks like the inspection wasn't the only thing we missed.”

Tarrian sounded an affirmative rumble. “I’m sure everyone will be eager to tell us everything at the next communal meal.”

“I’m almost sad I missed the excitement,” Aubrey admitted. “But I wouldn’t trade anything for our trip to the mountain. It was magical.”

“I don’t think most humans would consider laboring up a mountain in the cold and spending two nights in a communal space as magical.”

“You’d be surprised,” Aubrey countered as they reached their cottage. The door slid open, and they entered their little home. Tarrian didn’t stop and drop his cargo, he carried her bags of rocks to her lab without her having to ask.

After placing them gently on one of the worktables, he turned to her with a purr. “I have one more gift to give you. I received a message from Danisal that it arrived and she left it on our bed.”

“What?” Aubrey exclaimed. “You’ve already given me so much!”

Before Tarrian could answer, she tore out of the room and skidded to a halt next to their bed. Sitting in the center was an oddly shaped object wrapped in some kind of bright green, metallic-looking material. She hesitated to touch it.

“She wrapped it for you,” he murmured, coming up behind her. “I’ll have to thank her later.”

“Wrapped?” Aubrey said, looking over her shoulder at Tarrian.

He sounded a puzzled rumble. “Aren’t presents supposed to be wrapped?”

“Yes!” Aubrey agreed, then jumped onto the bed and knee-walked to the center. She was shocked at the weight of the present and had barely picked it up when she felt Tarrian grab her around the waist and lift her and the package up.

“Hey!” she protested as he carried her to a nearby bench and sat down with her on his lap.

“I want to hold you when you open it,” he said.

Aubrey made a noise of agreement as she started ripping open the thin, shimmering wrapping to reveal a very ordinary rock underneath. Blinking in confusion, she stared at the gray stone trying to figure out why Tarrian would give this to her specially.

“It’s a pet rock,” he explained. “I saw a vid from Old Earth where humans gave each other rocks as pets.”

“It’s a nice rock,” she agreed, still deeply puzzled. Hadn’t they just hauled two big bags off rocks off the tallest mountains on Talarian? Some of the items she’d brought back were either gorgeous, geologically significant, a mystery, or a combination of all three. Compared to them, this rock was plain and boring, not that she’d ever say that to Tarrian! “I’ll, um, treasure it?”

“This rock is special,” he said. “This comes from the colony where I’m from. My cresh was there, I did my early training there, and my family going back three generations are interred at the Hall of Ancestors there. It’s an important place, and I wanted to give you a piece of it.”

The full significance of this gift hit Aubrey. Tarrian wanted to share a piece of his past with her in a way that she’d most understand or appreciate.

“This is the best rock anyone’s ever given me,” she said, reaching up to cup his face. “I’m going to name it Rikki the Rock, and I’m going to give it the best life a rock could ever want.”

When they kissed, it was soft and gentle. She felt oil warming her palm where it was resting over his scent gland, and the smell of peppermint perfumed the air. She could’ve never predicted this was where the universe would lead her.

“You’re the chloride to my sodium,” she whispered to him. “Apart, we’re unstable and dangerous, but put us together, and we’re perfect.”